Fallout: Exposing an Atomic Spy

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, on 5 September 1945, an event occurred whichwould allegedly mark the beginning of the Cold War. A young cipher clerk working for theGRU, Soviet military intelligence, defected to the West,bringing with him a raft of documents and exposing a large spy network on both sides of theAtlantic. At first, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, was loathe to react, fearing thatany action taken by his government might spark a Third World War with the Soviets. Igor Gouzenko revealed that a British nuclear physicist, Alan Nunn May, who had workedon the Tube Alloys/Manhattan Project, was part of that spy network and had passed on secretsabout the atomic bomb to the Russians. It would cause a rift in US-British relations and lead tothe so-called 'McMahon Act' whereby Britain, and therefore Canada, were excluded from furthercollaboration in developing atomic research. It also led to aCanadian Royal Commission to investigate the extent to which spies had penetrated theCanadian government and what information they had passed on. Gouzenko and his family lived under witness protection in fear of assassination from theKGB, while Alan Nunn May, on his return to the UK, was tried and convicted of espionage.When he was released from prison in 1952, he had problems finding employment. When he died,he still firmly believed that what he had done had been justified. This book examines the 'Gouzenko Affair' and corrects some of the myths surrounding hisstory. It also considers the case against Nunn May, his associates, and his life as a convicted butunapologetic spy.